Category Archives: Live

Tattoos have a power and magic all their own. They decorate the body but they also enhance the soul. Why not wear your heart on your skin in this life?

I’ve always wanted to get inked. But it took me a while to finally come up with a design that I really loved and something that will truly embody the real me. I wanted my first tattoo to be something simple, yet meaningful to me.

So I’ve come up with these designs..

Placement will be on the wrist..

Why February 29?

Every 4 years, February gets an extra day—so I just thought why not make the most of it?

It’s a strange amazing day that comes only once every four years. For the rest of the time it does not “exist.”

In mundane terms, it marks a “leap” in time, when the calendar is adjusted to make up for extra seconds accumulated over the preceding three years due to the rotation of the earth. A day of temporal tune up!

Apart from that, this day also holds another secret—it contains one of those truly rare moments of delightful transience and light uncertainty that only exist on the razor edge of things, along a buzzing plane of quantum probability…

A day of unlocked potential.

Will you or won’t you? Should you or shouldn’t you?

So YES! I decided to use this day to do something daring, extraordinary and unlike myself. I bravely took a chance to shape a new pattern in my personal cloud of probability!

Getting BOGZified!

Getting your first tattoo is something very special, and I want nothing but the best tattoo artist to do this.

So months before, I already started my research, asked a couple of friends, and made up my mind to choose Bogz Flores of Tattoo Avenue to do it.

He’s quite popular in Davao and is often mentioned when you’ll search Google for the best tattoo artists here in Davao City, as a matter of fact he had even been featured in Mindanao Times Newspaper. His tattoo works are also amazing, check here. So why not?

My First Tattoo Experience!

So yes! On the evening of February 29, 2016. Me, along with my travel buddy, got our first ink and tattoo experience in Tattoo Avenue!

Here’s my travel buddy’s tattoo design –

Is it painful?

So the question almost always asked is, “Is it painful?”

Well truth is, the pain I experienced is way LESS than what I expected it to be.

Yes, it is painful at first. Just imagine a thousand ants biting you, or a thousand needles altogether piercing through your skin! But hey, the pain is what makes every tattoo experience worthwhile & unforgettable. No pain no gain, right?

On a pain scale of 1 to 10 (1 being the lowest, and 10 the highest), I’ll rate my first tattoo experience on a scale of 7.

That’s not really painful actually! And believe me once you’ll get used to the pain, it becomes normal and natural, and can even be a pain na hahanap-hanapin mo!

And that splendid hum of the needle, oh boy, it’s just so good to the ears!

Perhaps these are just some of the reasons why they say, tattoos could get addicting!

My Tattoo Design

So here’s my tattoo design.. On the left side of the wrist, the word, ‘free‘ with a bird on it, to signify my freedom-loving soul.

Then the dashes (30 of them if you’ll count), since my favourite number’s THIRTY, connecting to form a heart with a letter ‘R‘ (for Rojae) on it ending in an airplane to signify my love for travel.

See also the placement of the heart, which is in my pulse, signifying that my love to travel is just soo deep that it runs in my veins! haha 😀

So what do you think? Do you wanna get inked as well?

“A tattoo is a true poetic creation, and is always more than meets the eye. As a tattoo is grounded on living skin, so its essence emotes a poignancy unique to the mortal human condition.”― V. Vale

Yes. After almost months of being on hiatus, I’m finally back to tell the story of my absence.

You see, 3 months ago I made a decision that I know will change the path that I’m trekking – particularly my travel-ful and adventurous lifestyle. You may have wondered why suddenly I’ve stopped travelling. No more blog stories, Facebook travel posts, status updates, etc.

I’ll admit, I missed it all. But I’ll also have to be honest, that I haven’t regretted anything – and I’m happier to come back fitter and stronger.

Transformation Challenge

Three months ago, I started becoming conscious of the change that I’m witnessing in my body. Obviously all this traveling, eating and unhealthy food choices are already taking their toll on me – making my clothes tighter, my belly bigger, and my Facebook photos uglier to look at. Continue reading →

Ever want to travel with a portable wifi and be connected with your online community anywhere you go?

For a traveler, a blogger, and an online freelancer like me this has always been not just a want, but a need. I’m sure you could relate with me.

Wanted Wi-Fi Story

Waiting in the departure area of an airport, doing absolutely nothing, so you decided to grab your mobile phone, look for available wifi networks in the area – then you found a lot, wow!

But as you try to connect, all of them turned out to be password protected! uh oh..

Fret not for you still have that option of going into a ‘Wifi Café’ and order a cup of coffee to grab that needed password –

But then you realize you don’t have enough money, the remainder of your allowance went to the ever expensive 200php terminal fee – ouch!

But knowing that you don’t give up easily, you think of another approach – ahah! Why not just use my mobile data to get connected to the internet!?

So you tried registering for a 1 day unlimited internet or a similar one – but found out that you ran out of cellular load!

Bang! It’s the end .. you start to hope and envy those rich kids around you with postpaid internet mobile plans, or those men and women in suits in coffee shops tinkering their laptops..

Oh well, let me end this kind of situation for you. Next time you travel, why not try my portable wifi way

How Do I Travel and Be Online All the Time?

I do not have any existing mobile plans. Just a regular prepaid user who’s subscribing to a regular unlimited call and text promo.

But of course as needed in my work, I prefer my internet connection to be a mobile broadband rather than an internet line connected to a router in our house.

Mobile broadband allows me to travel more and be online anywhere. But how knowing that a broadband stick is not wifi?

How to Make your Broadband Stick Wifi?

Did you know that you could actually make your broadband internet stick wifi? Just buy one of these Huawei Pocket Wi-Fi..

For me I use a Huawei E355… bought from an online shop.

My Portable Travel Wifi

This gadget can be use as USB Broadband Stick and/or a wifi router to broadcast your 3G / 4G internet using only one sim card.

What I do is I transfer here my broadband internet sim and vwalah! be instantly connected! You could also put regular sim cards registered in internet promos!

This wifi stick however needs to be powered via a usb port – you could plug it into your laptop (but of course this necessitates that you go around traveling with your laptop just for the stick to work? no way – that’s no longer ‘portable’) so what I do is this..

Power Your Wi-Fi Stick with a Power Bank

Now that you already have a wifi stick as small as that, you now need something to power it – with this I use a Power Bank.

My brand new Yoobao 13,000 mAH powerbank to replace a cheap one that I have before

A Power Bank is a device that once charged, could power mobile phones, tablets, ipads, digital cameras (connected with usb cables) and yes, usb wi-fi sticks!

Here’s the set up that I do –

The Wi-Fi Stick and Powerbank set up I carry with me (with my old powerbank)

Then as simple as this, just plug it in, and you’re already connected to the online world!

No need for router set ups, expensive mobile internet plans, coffee shop purchases, and more password seeking for available wifi efforts!

So next time you travel, carry a Wi-Fi anywhere! Have that portable pocket Wi-Fi stick with you!

Right now, you might probably be asking the same question. And so today, I would like to end all answer-seeking there is.

I’m going to write a series here in my blog on how to save and invest, for all of us to enjoy financial freedom someday and start traveling!

So let me begin.

How I Fund My Travel?

You probably know by now that I am a Registered Nurse by profession. And I am proud of that.

But I hope I’ll not disappoint you if I said that I am not a practicing Nurse at present. Why?

Simple. Because I want to travel. And I think realizing this dream will be a difficult one if I would be working day and night in the hospital.

And I also do not want to add myself to the ballooning number of Nurses looking for jobs , getting a meager income, some are even the ones paying for the experience instead of receiving a salary.

How tough could that get?

And so I settled for an online job. And no, not my blog. For I DO NOT EARN ANYTHING FROM MY BLOG, contrary to the belief of many people.

My blog is just a passion of mine. A hobby. A way of sharing to the world all my travel and adventures.

I work online, specifically at Odesk.com. There I handle various clients, mostly from the US and they pay me by the hour. I do research, email marketing, project management, etc. The salary’s not big, nor not small, but it is enough to fund my wanderlust.

Let’s Start Investing!

Is it wise to ‘put’ money in the bank?

Take note of the word ‘put’. You may wonder why I used this instead of using “Save money in the bank”.

Because I believe that:

When you put money in the bank you are not saving, You are lending.

Yes. That is true. The only way I think that putting money in the bank could be of help is for your Emergency Funds. I’ll be talking later about this

Why will you choose to put your hard earned money in the bank that earns ONLY 1% INTEREST RATE ANNUALLY, or 5% in Time Deposits, not included to that the taxes, etc, WHEN YOU COULD INVEST IT AT A MINIMUM OF 12%?

But invest where and how?

Let me introduce you now to the Stock Market.

Introduction to the Stock Market

This investment series of posts has been long overdue.

I’ve been planning to write this for the longest time.

But I felt it wasn’t the right time.

Because I was still in the process of learning and experiencing how is it to invest in the stock market myself.

But now the time has come. It has been 3 months since I started setting apart of my monthly income and INVEST it in the stock market, and to tell you IT REALLY DOES GROW.

Why ‘Investing’ in the Stock Market is not so dangerous at all?

“The stock market is dangerous!”

After all, statistics say that 85% of stock market players lose their money. Believe me, billions have been lost.

But whenever people say, “The stock market is dangerous!” they’re referring to trading in the stock market. Not investing in the stock market.

There’s a big difference:

Trading is buying stocks and selling them within a day or a few days.

Investing is buying stocks and selling them in six months or never!

Warren Buffet, the richest man the stock market has ever made, said, “Only buy something that you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for ten years.”

Here’s why I believe you should be investors: I don’t believe ordinary people should be trading. I repeat, 80% of people lose their money in the stock market. My belief is that most of those 80% are traders.

Invest Monthly and Regularly

If you want to invest in the stock market, there’s only one choice: Money Cost Averaging.

That’s just a fancy name for buying stocks of great companies, little by little, each month.

Perhaps P5000 a month. Or P10,000 a month. Or whatever fixed amount you’re can set aside from your monthly earnings.

The important thing is to do it regularly. When you do this, you’ll find your money growing steadily year after year.

Are you already eager to find out how?

Investing in the Stock Market

I often hear people say that they are investing in the stock market, and always wanted to give it a try as well, but I DO NOT KNOW HOW.

I also thought that investing in it could be done only via stock brokers (these are the people you hire, you let them handle your money and they’ll be the one to invest it in the stock market).

Then I found out through my research that YOU COULD INVEST START INVESTING IN THE STOCK MARKET YOURSELF.

No middle man. No stock broker. Less expenses. More savings.

Great isn’t it? But how? Let me introduce you to CITISEC ONLINE.

What is Citisec Online?

I don’t work for Citiseconline. But I highly recommend that you use it as your way into the market.

I’m recommending it to you because they’re the best online trading platform in the country today. They’re also the biggest.

Trust me on this, I’ve researched them well.

Getting Started on Citisec Online?

Citiseconline has made it very simple for small investors. They created the Easy Investment Program or EIP.

If you have P5000 or more, you can start investing. P5000 is the initial minimum amount. It’s up to you how much you’ll invest after that. Log in to WWW.CITISECONLINE.COM to get started.

Every month, you can deposit P5000 (or whatever amount you want to put in) into your Citiseconline account. No need to go to their office to do this. You can do it through a bank deposit via any branch of BDO, BPI, Security Bank, and HSBC.

From the comfort of your home, you can open your computer, log onto the website, and buy the stocks that you like. You’re doing it. You’re in control.

What Stocks Should I Buy?

I said “Buy stocks that you like”, BUT THESE SHOULD NOT BE JUST ANY STOCKS.

You have to make sure that the stock you buy are from established companies ; solid, great companies that will make you wealthy in 20 years.

Why Should I Join The Truly Rich Club?

The TRULY RICH CLUB is founded by Bo Sanchez, an author known for his best selling books, inspiring talks, and yes, financial mentoring.

Upon joining the club, Bo will bug you every month to invest. He will email you his Stocks Update containing the list of the companies that we should invest.

Here are some sample snapshots of what the Stock Update contains –

Sample Stock Update

Apart from receiving the Stocks Update, he’ll also be sending out daily inspirational emails, monthly newsletters, DVDs, interviews, power talks on how to view money, in terms of relationships and on building businesses and character ; and of course, personal growth materials.

Why I recommend joining the Truly Rich Club?

I honestly believe that in today’s world, information is king. If you are not informed, you will be left out. You will always be wondering how come others are getting financially ahead while you’re still stuck working at a dead-end job you really hate.

So why wait any further?

What will you get when you join the Truly Rich club?

Here’s a sneak peak of what you will receive:

2 Power talks every month (instant access via MP3)

Bo Sanchez Success Mentors Collection every 3 months

4 Wealth Strategies newsletter every month

Daily God’s Whispers email

How To Be Truly Rich Seminar

How To Conquer Your Goliaths E-book

How To Turn Thoughts Into Things E-book

My Maid Invests in the Stock Market E-book (I’ll be giving this as a FREE TREAT at the end of the post)

STOCKS UPDATE (Monthly update of what company Bo Sanchez invests in)

Earn passive income by becoming Bo Sanchez affiliate in the Truly Rich Club

Free Ebook Copy

Below is an ebook that I’ll be sharing to you and it’s all yours for FREE. I recommend you to read them to get to know more about the Stock Market, Citiseconline, and the truly rich club. (JUST CLICK BELOW TO DOWNLOAD)

18.To travel within my own province and nearby places, blog, and tell the world how beautiful it is to be here

19.Be able to make my own Adventuroj logo (and print out shirts =)

20.Start out a not your ordinary travel blog of photography and poetry

21.Start a travel YouTube channel

22.To start my quest for a nonstop around the country backpacking adventure around all 80 Philippine provinces (while working online)

23.To invest more and help others learn the art of saving pennies for rainy days

24.Provide more budget travel tips and tricks to help everyone travel as cheap as possible

25.Get to know and meet more wanderlusts – people who share the same passion and love for travel and adventure

26.To make a difference to whoever i meet to wherever i go

27.To be able to “nurse” a soul and more soles that I’ll come across my travels (especially those living in far flung communities)

28.To trek the road less travelled, going into places not yet discovered

29.To inspire more Filipinos to travel the Philippines and love it first and foremost before other foreign land

30.To be MORE in every word, action, deed, and thought, and MORE of who I am.

So that’s it!

I know there’ll be more,

But I guess you’re already bored.

And now this is the time for parting,

And our time is at an end,

The rest of your life is starting,

And we have no time at all to spend.

Until next adventure then,

Thank you for your time, a minute or ten,

Happy New Beginnings I wish to you,

For 2013, what beginning would you do?

Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. – Winston Churchill

– – –This is the 27th Edition of the Pinoy Travel Bloggers’ (PTB) Blog Carnival with the topic “2013 New Beginnings”. It is my second blog carnival participation, a new beginning for a new beginner I should say. It is a great honor and pleasure to be the host for this January 2013’s blog carnival as it was one of the things I looked forward to even before being a part of PTB, but more than that, I hope this not so ordinary blog post would be able to live up to its purpose of inspiring all of you to pursuing whatever new beginning you have.

Happy 2013! Check out the carnival’s archive as compiled by Estan Cabigas by clicking the Logo below 🙂

“The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.”

Another blessing has come my way, The Adventures of Adventuroj is nominated as one of Skyscanner’s Travel Blog Oscar’s New Comer Blogs in the Philippines.

The winners for each country are going to be determined by the most number of votes. These winners from the Philippines will in turn compete with winners from other countries.

What is Bloscars 2013?

The Bloscars 2013 are the Skyscanner Travel Blog Awards where Skyscanner recognises the excellent work of travel bloggers on informing and inspiring travelers by sharing their adventures and travel experiences.

How Are The Nominees Selected?

From Janet Ranola of Skyscanner Philippines:

The nominees have been selected by colleagues (mostly from our PR and content/SEO team) from both the Singapore and UK offices (I am not included for obvious reasons). I know that there had been a lot of going back and forth when it went down to shortlisting the blogs per category because for the Philippines alone they have come up with about 50 travel blogs that are pretty good. Multiply that process for 10 more countries and you’ve got chaos. That’s the reason why they came up with a readers’ choice category because they all know that they cannot include all these. I’m pretty sure there are a lot of questions, especially from those who think that there are far better blogs (in terms of quality of writing and content, which are the main things that we are looking for) that should be on the list, but please encourage them to campaign for these travel blogs under the readers’ choice category.

Phases of the Competition

The Skyscanner Travel Blog Awards consist of three stages:

The Skyscanner international team nominates 5 bloggers for each of the categories in each country.

Popular Voting: A shortlist of 5 blogs will be chosen by public vote, one blog per category in each country. The shortlist will comprise the 5 blogs receiving the largest number of public votes by the closing date. Votes are limited to one vote per blog and readers can also nominate a blog that Skyscanner has not already nominated by using the “User´s choice category”.

The winners from each category will compete against the winners of the other participating countries in the international final, where the Skyscanner international judging panel will choose the final winners.

The opening and closing dates of the award are:

– Nominees are announced on the 17th of January 2013 and voting opens

– Voting for winners of each categories closes on the 18th of February 2013

– Country winners of each categories are announced on the 22nd of February 2013

– Final international winners are announced on the 1st of March 2013

Categories

The Bloscar awards will cover the following categories:

Best female travel blogger: This category is dedicated to female bloggers who have proved to have excellent travel writing skills.

Best male travel blogger: This category is dedicated to the male bloggers who have proved to have excellent travel writing skills.

Best travel photography blog: This category is dedicated to those travel bloggers who capture the best moments of their travels with their cameras and delight us with outstanding images.

Best newcomer travel blog:This category is dedicated to the new travel blogs which have been around for a year or less but have proven to be excellent travel writers.

User´s choice blog:This will be the only category where Skyscanner readers can nominate a blog (that has not been already nominated by Skyscanner).

Another feat for Adventuroj of The Adventures of Adventuroj!

Being nominated in such a prestigious travel blog competition is indeed an honor for me. Within one year of blogging and doing the thing I loved the most – that is ‘traveling’, it is overwhelming to know that one’s efforts are appreciated.

I know this is a tough one. Competing alongside established and well known travel bloggers in the country (most of whom are friends also from the Pinoy Travel Bloggers Facebook Community), is ain’t easy. But I’m not giving up. I always love challenges, and this, I accept as another adventure!

Today I’d like to share to you a post that I’m subscribed in from the Daily Love. Hopefully this will inspire you (as I had been inspired) to live your dreams not bonded to societal rules, nor to someone else’s approval. So without further ad due, here it is. Enjoy!

TODAY’s QUOTES

“Only the truth of who you are, if realized, will set you free.”

– Eckhart Tolle, best-selling author & speaker.

“Someone who takes the time to understand their relationship with source, who actively seeks alignment with their broader perspective, who deliberately seeks and finds alignment with who-they-really-are, is more charismatic, more attractive, more effective, and more powerful than a group of millions who have not achieved this alignment.”
– Esther Hicks, best-selling author & speaker.

“It is finally when you let go of what people expect you to be and people’s perceptions of you that you’re able to be the version of yourself that you’re supposed to be – like in God’s eyes. It doesn’t matter if you’re half crazy, or eccentric, or whatever it is – that you have to be true to who you were born to be.”

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The Adventurous AdventuRoj

My name is Rojae. Roj for short. A Blogger. A Nurse. Web Researcher. Spongebob Lover. Photo buff. And most of all - A Traveler. An adventurer in almost all things possible. And that’s how “adventuRoj” came about. Join me as I share this happiness that walks on busy feet as I traverse all 80 provinces of the Philippines. You’ll find a myriad of adventures divided into different categories – Travel. Shoot. Eat. Pray. Laugh. Live. and Love, each written from the heart, with the end goal of bringing a smile into yours.

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